ISLAMABAD, June 24, 2016: The Punjab Assembly approved forty one Demands for Grants during eighth sitting of its 22^nd (Budget) session on Friday, says Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN).

Following are some key observations of the House proceeding:

Members’ Participation

• The Punjab Assembly met for two hours and 15 minutes.
• The sitting started at 0920 hours against the scheduled time of 0900 hours.
• The Speaker presided over the entire sitting while the Deputy Speaker was present.
• The Chief Minister attended the sitting for eight minutes.
• The Leader of the Opposition attended the sitting for an hour and three minutes.
• The Finance Minister attended the sitting for two hours and two minutes.
• Eight lawmakers (2%) were present at the outset and 154 (42%) at the adjournment of the sitting.
• Not a single parliamentary leader attended the sitting.
• Three minority members were present.

Output

• The House approved 41 Demand for Grants of various government departments.
• The Finance Minister and a PML-Q female lawmaker discussed a Cut Motion for Health Department consuming ten minutes.
• Five lawmakers discussed a Cut Motion on Demand for Grants for Education Department consuming 36 minutes of proceeding.

Representation and Responsiveness

• The House deferred seven Adjournment Motions until next week.

Order and Institutionalization

• The entire opposition protested for one minutes against the unsatisfactory statement of the Education Minister during discussion on relevant Demand for Grants.

Transparency

• ‘Orders of the Day’ was available to the legislators, observers and public.
• Information on members’ attendance is available on the Assembly’s website.

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The daily factsheet is based on direct observation of the Punjab Assembly proceedings conducted by PATTAN Development Organization – a member organization of FAFEN. Errors and omissions are excepted.